If I had a dime for every time the M word has been in print or been said on radio and TV the past year, I'd be Bill duPont's neighbor.

The honeymoon's over. Let's get on with the marriage.

My enthusiasm for the M's hasn't gone away, it just has been in remission lately.

I want to see NBA basketball - now. And games that count, please.

Sports fans in Central Florida have been waiting with various degrees of patience for Nov. 4, 1989, for some time now. The ''stuff'' I want to see isn't green but a rim-rattling, backboard-shaking, bring-the-house-down effort by Terry Catledge or Sidney Green.

I've seen the tape of Reggie Theus hitting a jumper from the baseline more times than I've seen President Bush on TV the past month. I want to see Reggie live.

I've heard all about how much fun it will be to ''Catch the M'' live. I'll catch a cold if that's what it takes to get the season started.

Can I recatch M Fever? Can I again be overcome by M-mania? Will I ever again suffer from M on the brain? Sure. But I am a sports fan, and the game, not the hype, is what gets my motor running and will bring me to Orlando Arena.

There's another reason why I am ready for the season to begin. Once the first game begins, Orlando the city will count in the sports scheme of things.

That Orlando will belong is important to me and something I find special. Sports fans in Los Angeles and New York and Chicago will care about what happens here. No matter where you are in the United States for the next six months, the name ''Orlando'' will be there.

Open any newspaper with a sports section, and you'll see scores, boxes or stories about the M. Turn on CNN or ESPN at 11:30 p.m. or 2:30 a.m. and you will see highlights of M games. Perhaps one time soon, CNN's popular Play of the Day will feature an M or will come from Orlando Arena.

Who knows? Maybe one day people will hate us the same way some people have contempt for Celtics fans. Now that would be something.

Call me crazy (you won't be the first), but I think of these things.

But all I want to think about from this point is Saturday's game and the 81 that follow. I'm ready for basketball. Magic basketball.

Let the games begin.

MAGIC TICKETS. As of Thursday afternoon there were less than 60 tickets remaining to the opener. All the tickets were single tickets (no two together). At 10 a.m. today about 150 tickets for obstructed-view seats will go on sale at the arena box office only. Only when a game is sold out or appears as though it will be a sellout, will the Magic put the obstructed-view seats on sale. The Magic will announce before each game when these tickets will go on sale. (Only obstructed-view tickets for Saturday's game are currently available.) Many of these seats are in the front row(s) of the upper bowl and obstructed by the restraining rails. There are also obstructed-view seats in the lower bowl.